boston

A catalyst for somber emotive imagery and tenderness felt, the best way to experience Foreign Tongues‘ debut record is by imagining a simple, empty white room, being sure to give this space enough room to bloom. A room to be filled with vast amounts of sound, pain, beauty, demure and efflorescence, as the band masterfully performs to you an album of heartfelt honesty, pain and sensation. “Fill me up, oh you fill me up.”

If you’re a regular reader of UTG then you no doubt know the only thing we love as much as music is movies, especially documentaries and indie films. There is something about the power of visual storytelling we cannot get enough of, and today we’re thrilled to offer you, our dear readers, a chance to see one of our favorite 2015 docs, for free, in advance of its US release.

Amy is a new documentary exploring the life and tragic death of powerhouse vocalist Amy Winehouse. The film has already won over festival audiences and film critics worldwide, but it …

Pop punk has dominated the alternative scene for the better part of the last half decade. So much so, in fact, that many seem to have forgotten there are variations of punk that don’t involve constant references to friendship, pizza, and getting over that girl who broke your heart in junior high. If that applies to you, maybe you should feel bad. I’m not here to ruin your day, but there are a number of great punk artists fighting to survive out there, and you’re only doing yourself a disservice by not taking time to discover their immense talent.

Anyone who has followed UTG for more than a few years knows our roots lie in the Midwest. The first few years this site existed, our staff, while not neighbors in any way, all resided in the middle of America. We have since grown and spread out, with regular contributors located all over the world, but our passion for promoting promising regional talent is as strong as ever.

Boston is rarely the first city that comes to mind when discussing hip-hop, and the nearby city of Lowell is even farther down that list, but a rapper by the name of …

I have said for a while now that Boston-based indie rock act Foreign Tongues‘ upcoming debut LP would be one to watch, and with our first sample of the LP, “Fools Of Love,” I hope you have been listening. Releasing later this year, the as yet untitled debut through No Sleep Records has been in the works for some time, and the band returned to producer Jay Maas of Defeater …

The teaser trailer for Black Mass we all saw back in April was a good way to introduce Johnny Depp’s take on notorious crime boss James ‘Whitey’ Bulger without giving away an ounce of plot. The second trailer, released this weekend, shows just a bit more without giving away the whole shebang.

I never really thought of Rick Ross when reading about the dark and depraved crimes carried out by Whitey Bulger as he held the city of Boston in the palm of his hand, but the latest trailer for Black Mass may have me seeing things differently. Backed by …

For the better part of the last year I have had my eye on Dallas, Texas native Leon Bridges. His music is both a callback to the now long gone heyday of soul, with influences ranging from Etta James to Sam Cooke, as well as a testament to the power of great songwriting. He can make you fall in love just as easily as he can make you ponder your relationship with the unknown, and he does it all while supplying a steady stream of dancehall-ready music that is sure to get your feet moving.

Brian Marquis initially found his way into the national spotlight during his time with Therefore I Am. Those days have come and gone however, and now Marquis makes his living as a singer-songwriter with a record deal through Equal Vision and some of the catchiest acoustic songs you have ever heard. You may have heard the solo record he released last year, but something tells me many of you missed it. Either way, I’m fairly confident everyone will fall further in love with Marquis after witnessing his new music video.

I can’t believe I’m about to write these words, but it looks like Johnny Depp may be making good movies once more.

Yes, you read that right. After years of delivering subpar performances in whatever movie Tim Burton needed him to appear in (as long as it didn’t interfere with Pirates Of The Caribbean), Johnny Depp is back to making the kind of gritty, reality-based dramas that showcase actual talent rather than highlighting the awesome power of CGI. His comeback effort, Black Mass, finds him taking on the role of real life gangster Whitey Bulger, otherwise known as …

In a time when it seems everyone is looking to the next mega-budget Hollywood blockbuster for their entertainment it can be easy to forget that there are countless indie efforts hitting theaters as well that offer equal, if not greater quality entertainment without resorting to the use of CGI and latex. One such film in theaters right now is Adult Beginners, which stars comedian Nick Kroll as a man who is forced to move in with his pregnant sister and her husband after losing everything in a tech startup. It’s the kind of funny, yet emotionally driven story that …

Writing about and supporting Boston’s Arms And Sleepers are things I will never tire of. For close to a decade now, Max and Mirza’s music has played a huge role in my life, and any prospect of new A&S material will always raise my spirits.

Following last year’s phenomenal Swim Team, Arms and Sleepers have launched a Kickstarter campaign to help fund the creation of a slew of new output, including “two EPs (a digital release and a limited 12” vinyl release), a Swim Team remix album, a music video for the song “Tiger Tempo,” and a follow-up album …

Boston has a handful of incredible bands that are too modest to enjoy their own time in the spotlight. Without a doubt, the leaders of that are Pile. The rock band wield guitars to let out some of the best guitar solos you’ve heard in the last ten years all while seemingly unaware of their own relentless talent. On their newest album, You’re Better Than This, out now via Exploding in Sound Records, they pull it off with a sharpened punk spirit, especially on album closer “Appendicitis.” The last two minutes of the song see them launch …